Johnny Damon doesn't know if then-teammate Alex Rodriguez used performance-enhancing drugs during the New York Yankees' run to the World Series title in 2009.

But if he did, the championship is tarnished in Damon's eyes.

"If that’s how he was able to hit in the postseason like he did that year, then yeah, absolutely," Damon told MLB Network Radio Thursday. "Then you start going and saying: 'Was anybody else on the team cheating?'

“There’s just so many different factors that determine if a team wins, and A-Rod was a huge determining factor. He was the MVP of the ALCS. He played a pretty huge part."

Rodriguez hit .429/.567/.952 with three home runs, two doubles and six RBIs as the Yanks defeated the Los Angeles Angels in the ALCS that year. His World Series numbers weren't as good, but he did have four extra-base hits and six RBIs in the six-game victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

Rodriguez was suspended through the 2014 season on Monday when the league penalized 13 players following an investigation into Biogenesis of America, a shuttled Florida anti-aging clinic accused of distributing banned performance-enhancing drugs. The players' union formally appealed the 211-game suspension Wednesday, sending the case to an independent arbitrator.